Students put the “friends” in Friends Academy this Thanksgiving. The Turkey Trot, a half-mile race around the school’s property, had kids from every grade level up on their feet, running around in festive hats.

Michael Williams, the athletic director at Friends, said the tradition started years ago by another faculty member, and there was interest in keeping the tradition alive.

“It’s a fun way to end school before break,” said Williams. “Everybody’s all together. Families are out. It’s a nice event for the school community.”

Every grade participates in the event, and parents are also encouraged to take part. Williams said that, in order to better prepare students for the day of the race, everyone will run the course two or three weeks before the event in their gym classes.

The older students ran first with the younger students cheering them on and slapping high fives as they ran past. The older students later joined the younger kids for a lap around the field.

Angela Martin, a kindergarten teacher at Friends, said the event ties in nicely with the school’s buddy system.

“They meet with their buddies once a month,” said Martin. “Several grades in the school pair up throughout the year. They get together, and we spend a lot of time building a whole-school community.”

Her kindergarten class, for instance, met up with their third grade buddies two weeks ago to make t-shirts to wear during the Turkey Trot.

“The first time they got together, they made a poster. It was about four specifics, like your favorite TV show, your favorite hobby – just trying to get to know each other,” she said.

The school has another program where students are grouped together with different students from different grades in an effort to build relationships.

“It’s neat because, when they see each other in the hall, they make those connections,” said Martin.